Military TimesIn a surprise announcement, U.S. President Donald Trump has called for government spending to be cut 5 percent across every federal department, leaving next year’s military budget in confusion.
"I would like you to come back with a 5 percent cut," Trump told members of his Cabinet during a Tuesday meeting. “Get rid of the fat, get rid of the waste, I'm sure you can do it. I'm sure everybody at this table can do it. It'll have a huge impact."READ MORE

Air Force TimesHurricane Michael slammed into Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida as a Category 4 storm on Wednesday, causing extensive damage and leaving the base closed until further notice.
Tyndall said in a release Wednesday evening that the "catastrophic" storm delivered a direct hit to the base, bringing down trees and power lines, ripping roofs off buildings and causing significant structural damage. Michael's winds topped 150 miles per hour. Tyndall is near Panama City, Florida, which bore the brunt of the storm.READ MORE

Army TimesAlmost one in five active duty male soldiers in 2015 was obese, and one-half were overweight.
Now, for the first time, the Army is calculating the costs of those added pounds to better understand: At what point is a soldier too expensive to keep?
Army doctor Maj. Brian Shiozawa has led this effort, analyzing the height and weight data of 429,793 active male soldiers in fiscal year 2015, then cross-referencing those records with the soldiers' visits to military treatment facilities, TRICARE data, and inpatient and outpatient medical claims during the same time frame.READ MORE

.

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

Bisek & Company, Inc. Military Resale Distributing Agent and BrokerUnderstands how important the benefit of the Commissary and Exchange is to the active duty and retired military service personnel. We will work with a manufacturer to bring their fine products to this unique market. Bisek & Company's teams are dedicated to doing what it takes to keep those special shoppers coming back to the Commissaries and Exchanges. Contact Bisek & Company team so we may help you better understand what it takes to succeed in expanding your role in this very special benefit. Contact Don Stickles 757 460 0968 or Craig Bisek or Gil

Military TimesA new Defense Department memo — and its clarification of three words — may ease the way for more military spouses to operate home-based businesses on military installations, especially when it comes to long-standing conflicts with competing with military exchanges and morale, welfare and recreation activities.
READ MORE

Stars and StripesThe U.S. military has ordered extra scrutiny for South Koreans who want to visit friends or attend events on American bases in Japan.
U.S. Forces Japan recently added the longtime American ally to a list of nations whose citizens must undergo additional screening before they can be escorted onto installations.READ MORE

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Specific information on upcoming ALA events is posted regularly on the ALA website. To learn more about each event, please click the following links:

An Emergency Relief Fund (ERF) was established at the beginning of October to help our Exchange team members in the Carolinas impacted by hurricane Florence. As associates began the recovery from Florence, Hurricane Michael carved a swath of destruction from the Florida Gulf Coast through Georgia. As a result, the AREA ERF has been expanded to include financial assistance for our Exchange team members in the four states affected by both Michael and Florence.

The AAFES Retiree Employees Association (AREA) Emergency Relief Fund serves as a depository for monies donated for financial assistance to active Exchange Associates in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas who were impacted by the adverse weather conditions. Team members are slowly putting the pieces of their lives back together following the devastation caused by hurricanes Florence and Michael.

If you would like to aid our Exchange family members in these four states by making a monetary donation/contribution of any amount to the Relief Fund, you can do so (1) thru AREA's GoFundMe credit card option at this link: AREA website, or (2) by check payable to the AREA Emergency Relief Fund and mailed to the address below.

AREA-ERF
P.O. Box 380614
Duncanville, TX 75138-0614

Donations to the fund are tax deductible and will be distributed to those who were affected by the hurricanes in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina. Cash donations need to be turned into a money order and then mailed to the address listed above along with the name and address of the contributor so that AREA can provide a tax-free donation receipt.

Progressive GrocerFood retailers should "[a]void politics whenever possible," according to the recently released "2018 Grocery Industry Report" from San Diego-based TrendSource. The report found that grocers are almost 10 percent likelier to be adversely affected by supporting a candidate that consumers oppose than they are to gain an advantage from supporting one that shoppers also support.
READ MORE

Whole Foods MagazineGerman grocer Aldi is expanding its U.S. presence with a remodeling scheme, a new advertising campaign, and a national rollout of its delivery partnership with Instacart.
The grocer plans to spend $5 billion to go from 1,800 to 2,500 stores, reports MediaPost, while remodeling existing stores and expanding fresh food offerings. While the remodels are more upscale, the stores will maintain the minimalist attitude that allows them to keep prices low.READ MORE

Supermarket NewsConventional supermarkets and Walmart are far and away the top outlets where consumers regularly shop for groceries, according to the TABS Analytics 6th Annual Food and Beverage Consumables Study.
Of 1,000 U.S. adults surveyed, 75 percent cited traditional grocery stores and 57 percent named Walmart as the retail venues they regularly visit (more than six times per month) to buy food and beverages.
READ MORE

By Connie Ulman The future of grocery shopping has arrived. Technology has come a long way, and now many grocery chains and some e-retailers are blazing the path to a futuristic way of grocery shopping. In this article, we take a look at the grocery pickup and delivery services offered by Kroger, Amazon, H-E-B, Walmart, Hello Fresh and Schwan's.READ MORE

PYMTS.comGrocers are stepping up their cross-channel digital efforts by rolling out new ways for consumers to order their groceries and have them delivered. Amazon has taken this approach with Whole Foods and Prime Now, and Kroger has recently rolled out a new delivery service dubbed Kroger Ship. Kroger and Amazon are hardly alone in their efforts to introduce more ways for consumers to shop for groceries. Omnichannel features are becoming more crucial as tech-savvy millennials gain more spending power and influence, according to the PYMNTS Enterprise Retail Grocery Report.
READ MORE

DVIDSIn honor of efforts to improve the quality of life for service members and families, Army & Air Force Exchange Service Director/CEO Tom Shull received the American Logistics Association's Distinguished Service Award on Oct. 2 during the group’s annual convention in San Antonio.
ALA is a nonprofit trade association that promotes, protects and enhances quality-of-life benefits for service members, military retirees and military families.READ MORE

KCENAfter a military base in Florida was left in pieces following Hurricane Michael, Central Texans offered to lend a helping hand anyway they could.
The Army and Air Force Exchange Service sent a mobile field exchange and a trailed filled with supplies to the nearly demolished base in hopes of bringing back some sense of normalcy while personnel figure out the next steps.READ MORE

NEXCOM Tactical Gear UpdateFrom Bangor, Washington, to Bahrain and beyond, Navy Exchange Service Command
tactical departments are adept at ensuring their patrons have the products they
want for their respective missions — whether Pilot, Seabee, SEAL or regular Sailor — wherever
they serve, just when they need them, and at a savings versus outside the wire. NEXCOM's
tactical department has also adjusted its sails, and planograms, to allow more flexibility to
highlight hot categories and be "first-to-market" with new products and suppliers.
Lisa Matthews, who was NEXCOM's tactical buyer through July, reported that category
sales through fiscal 2018's Week 26, ending Aug. 4, 2018, were $4.24 million overall, down
about one quarter of a percent from the prior year. Unit volume, however, had dipped,
from 205,671 units last year to 192,151 this year, a 6.57-percent decrease. As of
July, Courtney Batte, formerly the pet category buyer, had assumed responsibility for the
tactical category.
READ MORE

The Washington PostSears, the one-time titan of American retail, filed for bankruptcy ahead of a $134 million debt payment due and announced that it will close 142 stores.
For years, Sears has contended with the threat that it would become the latest big-name retailer to fall to online competition and crushing debt. READ MORE

CNBCNestled inside Target's Minneapolis headquarters, racks of unfinished clothes line the walls. In another area, sketches and splotches of color are hung up for inspiration. Walk down the hallway, and it looks like you've arrived at an HGTV set with bedrooms, living rooms and kitchens on display. This is the creative hub of Target's in-house brands – a key part of the retailer's turnaround.
READ MORE

By Michelle R. Matisons As more pressure mounts to raise the federal minimum wage to a $15 living wage, Amazon announced on Oct. 2 that its lowest paid workers will make $15 per hour. However, Amazon’s much-scrutinized workplace practices leave people scratching their heads about its influence and long-term goals. On one hand, the embrace of the Fight for $15 goal is lauded. But the company remains embroiled in controversies like high-pressure work cultures for its white-collar employees and surveillance-style tracking of its warehouse workers.READ MORE

The Morning CallBarnes & Noble Inc., the nation's largest retail bookseller, is authoring the next chapter in its own self-help book. This tale, apparently, could be called, "strategic alternatives."
The struggling company announced its board of directors has decided to enter into a formal review process to evaluate alternatives for the company, which operates 629 stores in 50 states.READ MORE

NRFThe U.S. economy continues to maintain solid momentum now that we are well into the second half of 2018. Second-quarter gross domestic product growth of 4.2 percent year-over-year was the strongest in almost four years and economic fundamentals are incredibly sound given the length of the current economic expansion. The National Retail Federation remains optimistic about the pace of economic activity and expects GDP will grow between 2.8 and 3.1 percent for the second half of the year.READ MORE

CSP Daily NewsIn a retail age in which disruptors are diluting the convenience shopping occasion with one-click ordering and home delivery, traditional retailers are pausing to ask: Who are we? Who do we need to become? When it comes to convenience today and in the future, can we deliver?
To guide retailers through these complex times, CSP and its sister research company Technomic Inc. surveyed 2,000 shoppers who visit C-stores at least once every two to three months on their expectations in a digital world.
READ MORE

Convenience Store NewsDespite the headlines they've generated, alternative vehicles are not yet filling up the roads. Research presented at the Fuels Institute's FUELS2018 event in May showed that electric vehicles are a small portion of the total population on the road, with growth hampered by higher prices and limited availability. But slow growth isn't no growth.READ MORE

Convenience Store DecisionsWhen was the last time you looked at your product inventory and considered how to make sure your inventory matched the needs and wants of the diverse market of demographic groups you serve?
Have you gone above and beyond translating your merchandising materials? Have you seen the growth of your diverse customer base — especially Hispanics?
READ MORE

Convenience Store NewsCommonly referred to by its shorthand IoT, the Internet of Things is a shorthand in and of itself – a catchall term for connecting devices to the internet that, in turn, connect with each other.
As both a concept and a practice, IoT has long been making headway in the retail space and is becoming increasingly important for convenience and fuel retailers to understand and use to their advantage.READ MORE

PRLogDr. Clayton Lawrence, CEO of Lawrence Executive Alliance of Professionals, LLC., lives his life in a way that epitomizes only positive examples, reinforces his belief in the power of education, and supports the Washington, D.C., and surrounding communities. His participation in what was his 102nd marathon was no different. And running in the Army Ten-Miler, Oct. 7, proved to be an incredibly personal and meaningful experience for the former military officer and endurance athlete.
READ MORE

Ho'okeleJoint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam took on the Alpha Warrior Battle Rig in a multiday competition that took place Oct. 3-5. The three-day event consisted of two fitness certification days for active duty, a meet and greet with two Alpha Warrior celebrities, a team competition, an individual competition and a kid's course challenge.
READ MORE

Keesler Air Force BaseThe Keesler Airmen and Family Readiness Center will host an Evacuee Open-House Oct. 16 and 18 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Bay Breeze Event Center, 2nd floor ballroom. All military and DoD civilian personnel affected by Hurricane Michael are invited. No reservations are necessary and children are welcome.
READ MORE